NEWTON — Dressed in a T-shirt, shorts, a ballcap and sneakers, he looked like most any other pedestrian out for an afternoon walk.

That is, unless you happened to notice Mike Monaco was walking back and forth across the same Main Street crosswalk and the police radio the sergeant talked into — especially when drivers refused to stop for him as he crossed in the marked crosswalk.

Monaco was the volunteer decoy last week when Newton police conducted a traffic enforcement detail aimed at drivers who don't stop for pedestrians using a marked crosswalk.

New Jersey state law was modified last year and now is very clear — motorists who see pedestrians in a marked crosswalk must stop and stay stopped.

A ticket for failure to stop carries a maximum of a $200 fine, plus court costs of up to $50; two points on the driver's license; 15 days of community service and surcharges on insurance.

In just over 90 minutes one afternoon last week, officers stopped nearly a dozen drivers, with several others going on their way probably not knowing they also could have been stopped.

"We could have stopped plenty more, if we had more officers here," said Sgt. Dean Coppolella, who coordinated the effort and was in uniform standing at the corner of Main Street and West Nelson Place. Each stop involved an average of about 10-15 minutes for the officer to check vehicle and driver and write out the appropriate paperwork.

A team from the New Jersey Herald was invited to watch the effort, and it became obvious that many other drivers indeed were violating the state law but got away with it because officers were busy ticketing or warning other drivers who had been stopped.

The second stop on the northbound side turned up a driver whose license was suspended. That kept the officer at that end of the detail tied up for more than a half-hour until Chief Mike Richards was able to reassign another officer to help with the operation.

The reason for the driver's suspension was he failed to pay insurance surcharges on a previous traffic conviction.

The second vehicle stopped heading southbound was a large trailer truck carrying a load of concrete blocks from a Sussex County company.

"He said he had a load and couldn't stop in time," said Patrolman Steve Vannieuwland, "Of course, if he was doing the speed limit, he would have had plenty of time to stop."

As part of the detail, officers set up orange traffic cones 102 feet from the crosswalk. That seemed as though it would have alerted drivers that something was up.

The 102 feet represented the amount of distance a driver, doing the speed limit, would be expected to see a pedestrian ready to cross the road and come to a complete stop.

In one instance, a speeding vehicle did come to a stop, suddenly enough that the back of the vehicle rose in the air. The driver of a vehicle

following behind narrowly averted rear-ending.

"I feel stupid enough," exclaimed a driver, who had been pulled over. While he agreed to talk with a reporter, he didn't want his name used.

The driver indicated the reason he didn't stop for Monaco, causing the officer to cautiously back up, was that he "wasn't paying attention."

But then he turned a little defensive. "They really should put up more signs," he said. "There's no warning about having to stop."

However, right in the middle of the crosswalk was a sign that clearly says "State Law Stop for Pedestrians in Crosswalk" and on each side of the street are large yellow school crosswalk signs with arrows pointing down.

"School will be starting shortly," said Richards, "so we also want to get the word out about the law and its meaning."

Another driver, an older woman, hit her hands against the steering wheel when she realized Patrolman John Flanagan, who was in uniform, had stepped in the street to try to divert her onto Maple Avenue.

While the woman did brake to a near stop for him, she continued driving northbound.

Another officer who had just arrived at Richards' order and was still in his patrol car, stopped her farther up the road.

"From the look on her face, you could tell she knew exactly what she had done," Flanagan said. "She probably got nervous."

Flanagan said none of the drivers he stopped became particularly irate.

"Most people are going to be pretty understanding if you explain things to them, especially the changes in the law," he said. "A lot of people are unfamiliar with those changes."

And that was why officers handed out just two tickets for failing to stop for pedestrians. One was to the suspended driver and the other was to a driver who was not "pretty understanding." There was also one driver issued a ticket for obstructed view.

What was most unbelievable to observers was the total disregard many drivers had for people trying to get across crosswalks at other intersections, even when there were two uniformed officers standing there.

In one case, a woman had to step back as a pick-up whizzed by, obviously violating not only the crosswalk law but the speed limit of 25 mph on that section of Main Street, all while talking on a cell phone.

The driver of the red Dodge 4-by-4 was lucky.

Although Coppolella radioed to the team at the other end of the detail area to stop the truck, those officers were busy writing other warnings. The pick-up continued north on Main Street.

Shortly after, three pre-teens on bicycles pushed their bicycles up to the crosswalk and watched as car after car drove on by.

Only after one of the officers stepped into the street with his hand raised, were they were able to cross.

"Even when they see an officer standing, drivers will often think, ‘He's on foot. He can't get me,' " Coppolella said. "And, in many cases, they aren't even paying attention and don't even see us."

Chris Lamb and Courtney Carovillano stood waiting at the crosswalk at West Nelson Place as several cars passed by.

When they finally got to the other side, Lamb answered, "It usually takes a good amount of time" before someone will stop.

Asked how long he's noticed that habit among motorists, the man, who's in his early 20s said: "Twenty years."

Coppolella said the town force has done operations like Wednesday's on several occasions when there were state grants available to pay for the overtime necessary to get enough officers available. " If we had twice as many officers (today), we'd have twice as many stops," he said. "The supply (of careless drivers) really is endless."

Richards said his department continuously works with state and town highway departments on ways to improve pedestrian safety.

"We're looking at better signage so it stands out more," he said. "Each year we re-mark the crosswalks and now we're looking at a combination of white and yellow paint.

He also noted the town has installed special brick overlays on many crosswalks to make them more visible.

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